India's fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 group stage clashes. Bumrah suffered a back spasm during the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He will be unavailable for the ODI series at home against England.
Sports Tak has learnt that Bumrah has been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. The national selectors on January 11 were informed about Bumrah's fitness when they picked the T20I squad for England series.
The selectors are likely to name Bumrah in the squad but his participation is subject to fitness. As the teams are expected to submit their provisional squads for the tournament, changes can be made till February 12, a week ahead of the opening match.
India are set to face Bangladesh in their campaign opener in Dubai on February 20. The high voltage clash against Pakistan will be on February 23 where the team will miss Bumrah's services. India's last league stage clash is scheduled to be played on March 2 against New Zealand.
Bumrah is likely to return to action in the semifinal clashes. The two semifinals are scheduled to be played on March 2 and March 4. The final will be played on March 9.
Bumrah's numbers in previous Champions Trophy
In the previous edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, Bumrah picked four wickets from five games at an average of 52.50. The Ahmedabad-born pacer had more than a year's experience in international cricket at that time.
Bumrah's numbers against Pakistan and in recent big events
The 31-year-old has played eight ODIs against Pakistan and bagged seven wickets at an average of 33.14. In UAE where India will play their Champions Trophy matches, Bumrah has eight wickets from four games at an average of 16.
In recent past, Bumrah has hit a purple patch in international cricket. In the T20 World Cup 2024, he was player of the tournament. In ODI World Cup 2023, he was the fourth-highest wicket-taker whereas in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, he bagged 32 wickets.